


honey glazed

by unlimitedolivegardenbreadsticks



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Abuse, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, LYDIa PLS GIVE EDITS THEY GIVE ME LIFE, Love Confessions, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Beta Read, Physical Abuse, Swearing, Tenderness, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and also hoes, but its still violence ig, for each other, god i hate chairman rose, here it is lydia! wink wonk pls make me more edits i love them, i know this looks like a disaster but trust me im a wholesome romantic so this ends well, i will add tags as i progress with this, my poor babey leon...., shrugging emoji, sonia and nessa are bros, this is highkey cringey but im a slut for lovey declarations, welcome to my boy PIERS i love you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22163569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unlimitedolivegardenbreadsticks/pseuds/unlimitedolivegardenbreadsticks
Summary: Leon had done it with good intentions, really, but sometimes trying to give an Applin to your best friend (see also: unconscious crush) has some unforeseen consequences.~Or: the greatest matchmaking pokémon in Galar somehow brings together two idiots in love, despite everything keeping them apart.
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Rose | Chairman Rose, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Rurina | Nessa/Sonia
Comments: 60
Kudos: 459





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so... this started out as a shippy joke between me and one of my irl friends.... and here it is now. sorry in advance ;) but i can only assume that if anybody else is reading this then you must like these two dummies as much as i do.
> 
> much love!

Leon awoke in the Wild Area to what he thought was Charizard’s claw poking him in his side.

“ _Nooooo_ ,” he mumbled lowly, rolling over in the grass. He had really been enjoying his nap, for someone with as much energy as he had. But still the poking continued. He sat up, running his fingers through long purple hair.

“Charizard, cut it _out_ ,” he groaned, smacking his hand lightly at the offending appendage, before feeling something that was distinctly not his partner pokémon. His wide golden eyes snapped open, fully alert.

A few meters away, Charizard was staring at him curiously, having been assigned to stay on guard while his trainer slept at the base of a tree, which, in retrospect, was probably not the best idea. However, the little something that had been headbutting Leon’s hip was no bigger than a ball that children played with, and it glanced up at him with long, thin eyes.

Leon cocked his head, before scooping the Applin in both of his palms. “Well, hey there,” he cooed with a gentle smile. “Why’d you come all the way over here?” He used his pointer finger to lightly stroke its body, the little pokémon shuddering at the touch, but it beamed nonetheless.

“Hey, Rotom,” called Leon a bit louder, arousing the attention of his electric-type cell phone from his pocket. “Can you get a reading on this?” Not that he knew nothing about Applins, of course, but this one seemed much bolder than any of the others he’d ever come across.

Rotom zoomed out with a metallic hum, floating in front of its owner expectantly. “Analyzing...” it chirped, as it scanned Applin. “Applin: the Apple Core Pokémon. As soon as it's born, it burrows into an apple. Not only does the apple serve as its food source, but the flavor of the fruit determines its evolution. This pokémon is a grass-type and dragon-type, and a female.” The phone then hovered by Leon’s knee, who thanked it.

“Alright, then,” mused the Champion, “I guess it’s time for you to wander back home now, huh?” He set Applin back down on the ground, nudging her towards the tall grass. Standing up himself, he made his way over to Charizard, when he heard a faint cry behind him.

Turning back around, Leon once again saw Applin, who hadn’t moved from her spot. She wriggled around defiantly, inching slowly towards Leon. He chuckled, then knelt down to invite her to rest on his palm again.

Applin stilled when she felt the warmth of his hand and trilled. “Adamant, aren’t you,” said Leon, chuckling. “Do you really want to stay with me?” He heard another contented trill.

“Then would you mind if I caught you in a PokéBall?” Leon asked the question gently, but he sighed when he received a compliant response from Applin. “Alright, hold on a sec.” One of his hands darted to his bag, where he always kept some spare PokéBalls just in case of any encounters such as this one. He held up an empty one for Applin to approve of.

“I’ll let you right back out again, if you’d like,” Leon offered, and without any more hesitation, Applin nudged the center button of the PokéBall. She disappeared with a flash of red light streaming into the ball, and it shook thrice before clicking, affirming to Leon that she had completely consented to being caught. Moments later, though, Applin rattled in her confines, and reappeared in the same red flash in Leon’s cupped hands. “You really like it there, it seems,” he noted more to himself, and Applin blinked owlishly at him.

A thought then occurred to the Champion. “I think you’d do well with a nickname, what do you think?” The small apple pokémon hopped excitedly in her spot, turning to face Leon expectantly. She certainly was a sweet little thing…

“How about Honey?” In response, she playfully nipped his thumb, then nuzzled it. Leon laughed, shrugging. “Alright, Honey! You and me, we’re gonna have a champion time, huh?” Honey let out a trill.

Leon waved over his first partner, still keeping Honey securely in his grasp so she didn’t fall out. “Come on Charizard, I need you to lead the way again! I know I’ll just get us lost...” Charizard huffed a small wisp of smoke, like he was laughing at his trainer, but beckoned to the call. He bumped foreheads with Leon affectionately, and then peered down at their newest companion like he didn’t know what to make of her.

“Honey, this is Charizard, my number one,” explained Leon, shaking his hair behind his shoulder. “I’ve had him since I first started my journey, and look at us now!”

As Charizard led the way through the Wild Area, Leon chatted amicably with Honey, although he didn’t get much of a verbal response from her other than little cries here and there. He told her all about his journey, and life as champion, although Honey could sense the discomfort in the young man when he mentioned Chairman Rose. She decided she didn’t like whomever this Rose was, because he always had things for Leon to do all the time, and so he never had time to be with his pokémon outside of battling very often anymore.

“Other than you,” he had said thoughtfully, “I haven’t really caught any new pokémon in a long time. And even when I do, I don’t have the time to raise them properly. It leaves me feeling a little… empty, y’know?” Leon blinked rapidly, then snorted. “Or maybe you wouldn’t know. We just met, after all, _ha_! But I hope I’ll be able to watch over you as much as I’d like to, although I can’t promise anything because I never know what the Chairman has going on. I’m only sorry that I can’t be the best trainer for young pokémon anymore, as much as I want to be. It’s almost a shame you like me so much.” His thumb once again rested on Honey’s body, petting it almost delicately.

He only snapped out of his melancholy train of thought when Charizard let out a roar to get his attention, and a large shadow loomed over him, obscuring the sunshine. Right in front of him was a large, dark staircase, surrounded by an opening resembling a dragon’s maw. To the left and right of it, medieval style walls branched out for miles, acting as some sort of barricade formation.

As unique as the entrance to Hammerlocke was, it was the dragon’s maw that piqued Leon’s interest the most. It was ornately sculpted of black stone, and supposedly the structure had survived for centuries, when Galar was ruled by kingdoms long ago. Not only was it a popular tourist attraction for trainers hailing from other regions, but it also brought Leon comfort because it reminded him of someone…

A certain “tall, dark, handsome, and talented dragon-type trainer as well as his only challenging rival” someone…

Then the gold eyes of the Champion glinted with interest. His lips fell open limply as his brain developed an idea, and suddenly they were stretched into a charming smile. “I may not be able to take care of you,” he began, humming to the little Applin, “But I know somebody who definitely can.” He called Charizard back to his PokéBall and rushed up the stairs and between the high walls, only bidding the guards stationed there a quick greeting.

Emerging back into the sunlight was always refreshing, and it never grew old, especially not in Hammerlocke, where Leon’s favorite gym was. It was intentionally put right at the heart of the city, completely unmistakeable for anything else.

“His name is Raihan,” Leon told Honey, who hung onto every word. “He’s a gym leader, which means he’s really strong and coordinated in battle, of course, but he specializes in dragon-types. And because he isn’t Champion he has much more free time for his pokémon than I do. Trust me, Honey, he’d absolutely love you.” She released a giddy string of chirps, and Leon cooed at her. He already knew he’d have trouble giving her away.

As he entered the lobby of Hammerlocke Stadium, Leon took caution to wrap the corner of his cloak around Honey, so that any press who might happen to be they wouldn’t speculate why the Galarian Champion had an underleveled pokémon with him that he didn’t need for battle. Thankfully, Raihan wasn’t in the crowded lobby, which gave Leon the incentive to move past the curious trainers and towards the back entrance where he knew he’d be able to skip the gym challenge and get straight to Raihan’s quarters.

He approached the man standing guard at the door, and discreetly asked for access to the Gym Leader’s room, which he was granted almost instantly. Once the door was shut again, he removed the cloak from around Honey, who shuddered furiously.

“Sorry,” Leon winced, taking note of her discomfort. “It was just so I wasn’t stopped. Don’t worry, though, we’re almost there.”

As he walked down the long corridor, Leon found himself daydreaming, which was, admittedly, often why he got lost so easily. And this time, as he’d caught himself doing more often than usual recently, he found himself thinking about Raihan, and all the features he found likeable about him, like his staggering height, toothy grin that allowed his fangs (!) to peek out, calloused yet smooth and big hands, and all the funny nicknames he called Leon. For a while now, the dragon-type trainer had taken to calling his rival “Princess”, which although Leon found confusing, it was cute nevertheless, so he always teased his Dragon right back. It was the evidence of a friendship that had survived many years.

Did he _want_ something more than a friendship, though? He wouldn’t have any way of knowing if Raihan did, too, and he didn’t want to risk what he already had with him, so Leon shoved those intrusive thoughts away.

At last, Leon could see the door at the other end of the hall, and his palms suddenly grew sweaty. Unfortunately, this displeased Honey, who skittered onto his shoulder and behind a curtain of soft violet hair while her current trainer wiped his hands on his white shorts.

Leon stood, silently, for a few minutes, twirling a lock of his hair between his fingers, a simple nervous habit. Wait- _why was he nervous?_

Without even having to knock, the door slid open to reveal the man he’d been looking for. Narrow electric blue eyes sparked with mirth upon seeing the newcomer. “If it isn’t Princess! What brings you here? I’ve got a match in a few but I can always make time for you~” Raihan’s toned arm rested on the doorway, his hand hanging inches from Leon’s face.

“I have something for you,” Leon offered innocently, as he was led inside to sit down on a couch. 

Raihan seated himself across the way casually. “Yeah? What’s up Lee?”

Leon held a hand out to his shoulder, where Honey uncovered herself from under his hair and nestled back into her favorite spot. He held her out to Raihan, whose face quickly contorted to shock as she trilled to him in greeting.

“Are… are you kidding, mate?” Raihan accepted Honey carefully, in awe of both her and Leon. His mouth fell open, bright blue eyes turning a puzzling stormy gray. His entire body was twitching, his eyebrows constantly shifting to convey so many confused emotions all at once. “I mean… _wow_ , are you kidding? Are you serious?”

Leon wrung his hands together. Albeit a bit taken aback by the amount of surprise the dragon-type leader conveyed, he hoped that it was a good surprise for him. “Yeah, Rai, I had a feeling you’d like her. Her name is Honey.”

Raihan’s cloudy stare snapped back into a fierce, piercing electric blue again, trying to read Leon for any trace of a lie. One of his hands went to massage his temple under his headband. “Shit, Lee, that’s really adorable. Shit. I can’t believe it. I love her. I love you.” A shy fanged smile crept across Raihan’s face, but Leon was the one frozen in place this time.

_HE_ **_LOVED_ ** _HIM?!_

Where in Arceus’ name did Raihan get that idea? Why did he pick that moment to confess? Raihan was always so cool and collected, a little goofy, but so was Leon. He had never seen him so put off by something before, and they’ve known each other for over a decade. Sure, Honey was certainly a good gift on Leon’s part, but he’d expected nothing more than some more teasing and a quick thanks. But here was Raihan, a prominent blush blossoming over his entire face and creeping up his ears and down his neck.

“W-what now?”

Raihan’s face stiffened completely, eyes even wider than before. “What? Wait- why are _you_ confused? What’s happening?” Honey trembled, sensing the nervous energy between the two. She cooed lowly.

“You love me, Rai?” Leon, having processed the truth even more by saying it out loud, gripped the armrest of the couch. He leaned in, but Raihan leaned back.

“Wait, you mean you don’t know-?” Raihan’s stare darted between him and Honey, back and forth, over and over. Then he slumped over, completely defeated. “Holy fuck. You don’t get it, do you,” he deadpanned. He stood up, blowing a slow stream of air into his hands, which were cupped at his mouth. “Lee. Do you know what it means when you give an Applin to somebody? Please tell me you know. Please.”

“I-” Leon was at a loss. Why was Applin special other than it being a dragon-type? That had been the whole reason why his first thought was to give her to Raihan… right?

_Right?_

No it wasn’t. It was because he loved him too, and he’d always been to dense to see it for himself. For Arceus’ sake, he already found Raihan attractive and still he didn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together! He was a bloody idiot, no wonder Rai looked so frustrated.

Leon spent so much time sorting out his own thoughts that he hardly noticed his rival angrily preparing for his upcoming gym match. A scowl set deep in his face, Raihan stuffed all his potions and the PokéBalls containing his competitive team into his pockets and stormed out of the room and towards the entrance from his chambers to the stadium arena, only turning his head to the side once.

His long fingers gripped the doorframe. “Just forget I said anything. Sorry, Leon.”

The doors slid shut before he could hear the Champion desperately call his name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon is lost, confused, and fearful of the trouble he knows he's in for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe people actually LIKE this?????? i mean,,, i know my boys are cute as all hell but i've gotten so much love for just the first chapter, thank you!!! here's the next installment of it, the plot thickens a little, more characters, i only hope i haven't gotten people too ooc because i haven't actually finished the game yet.... i probably will this weekend though. just had to bang this chapter out first. ;)
> 
> much love!

It was the fiercest anyone had ever seen Raihan battle before.

He won, of course, and the poor trainer who was pitted against him had their entire team slammed in minutes. The press who were present at the match were astounded, and soon the details of the battle were broadcasted online everywhere. Not too long after the stadium cleared, it was the hottest topic going around Galar.

Everyone was already well aware of how talented as a trainer Raihan was, and how close he’d come to actually beating Leon for the spot of Champion a few times. He already had a reputation on the battlefield for being the toughest gym for trainers, so undoubtedly winning against him was difficult. However, never had he so ruthlessly destroyed an opponent before.

Leon knew that sometimes published articles tended to stretch the truth to make it more dramatic, but even he couldn’t deny the stony, furious look that never left his rival’s face the entire time. Several closeup shots of Raihan’s face were trending, and fleetingly, Leon thought about how the dragon-type trainer wouldn’t be too pleased to see them completely take over his social media presence when he came back to his senses. But now wasn’t the time to worry about what he thought about the pictures, or the articles, or even the battle. What mattered was finding him and explaining everything.

If it had been a struggle for Leon to walk from the Hammerlocke front gate to the gym arena entrance in a normal situation, it was infinitely harder to push through the buzzing crowd streaming out of the door. Along with the challenge of not being recognized by too many people, Leon knew he had to find Raihan before he decided to disappear to Arceus-knows-where. He had waited in the gym leader’s quarters for a good half hour after the match ended, and Raihan didn’t come back. So, with his long purple hair tucked into his snapback and Honey returned to her PokéBall, he all but sprinted ahead of the crowd and beelined right for the housing complex due west, where he knew Raihan lived.

Of course, because he lacked a keen sense of direction, Leon got lost the moment he lost sight of the city square.

“I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming,” he groaned, dragging a hand down his face tiredly. His running slowed to barely a crawl, losing his normal pep in the less crowded area of Hammerlocke. Plopping down onto a nearby bench, Leon decided to just wait this one out until someone came looking for him. He already had a feeling he’d be in for it with the Chairman for not showing up to his office on schedule, so it was perfectly likely that he and Oleana would have to drag him to whatever event he had to make an appearance at.

Dismissing that dread entirely, Leon removed his snapback, shaking his head so his hair flew about him wildly. Running a hand through it, he simultaneously released Honey, who popped out of her ball expectantly.

“I’m really sorry,” he said to her after a moment. “That… did not go as planned. I didn’t remember initially what you- Applins- meant when you’re given to another trainer. Now I’m pretty sure he blames himself for everything, and he didn’t even stay to hear anything from me after that.” His head lolled onto his shoulder, and Honey inched into his upturned hand.

“I’ve been looking for him everywhere, and nobody’s seen him since that gym battle. I...” He sighed. “I just don’t know what to do now.”

“But I know what you should’ve been doing over two hours ago,” quipped a new voice. Leon immediately straightened, and peered up at Oleana, whose narrow eyes were like slits as she took him in. Her lanky arms were folded, and one of her heeled shoes pointed to the side, as if she were silently threatening to step on Leon’s neck should he make one more wrong move. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but the Chairman has been expecting your company for quite some time, and you know how incredibly rude it is to keep him waiting. Yes?”

“Of course,” Leon replied quietly. He stood up slowly while Oleana turned and led the way back to central Hammerlocke, trying to hide Honey as subtly as possible. But it seemed she picked up on the new presence.

“I hope you don’t intend to keep that,” she said sternly. “As Champion, you don’t have the time in your schedule to fiddle with pokémon that are too young for you to battle with in your league matches. If I were you, I would release it so to not stir up more trouble with the Chairman.”

Leon said nothing else, but he almost didn’t mind the proposition of getting in trouble if it meant he could keep Honey.

Suddenly, Oleana stopped walking. Her Rotom phone started to ring, and within seconds, she had it pressed to her ear, nodding at whatever the person on the other end was saying. She ended the call with a single tap, gracefully brandishing her wrist to put the phone away.

“The Chairman has decided to move around your schedule because you are so behind for today,” she said at last, her posture straightening even more. “You will not meet with him until tomorrow, it seems.” Oleana preened. “You’ve gotten lucky today, but I can only hope that you are not overwhelming yourself in advance. I wouldn’t embark on any more little excursions without approval from the Chairman.”

Leon, expecting her to have finished, tentatively took a step backwards, but the Chairman’s secretary suddenly rushed up to him, raising a threateningly sharp and blood red nail to his face. “You have an image you must keep up at all times as the region’s Champion. You have made an oath to wear this Champion character at all times, whether it be the real you or the false you, either way it doesn’t matter because that’s all your fans and sponsors will know you as. That’s all they  _ must _ know about you, and nothing else. Chairman Rose so gratefully offers you his sponsorship so you no longer have to worry about financial or popularity trouble, and this is how you repay his efforts? It is only a shame that I am not the one to deal with you, so I will leave the rest to him, but you better pray to your Wishing Stars that nothing happens as a result of this that brings unwanted attention. Don’t think for a second that the Chairman and I aren’t aware that you went to see Gym Leader Raihan today, and moments after he delivered the angriest victory Galar’s ever seen. You aren’t invisible, Leon. There are eyes everywhere, and even if you don’t want them, you agreed to this lifestyle. I don’t know what you did, but it stops now.” She hissed every word through her teeth, and Leon could swear that this was the first time he’d ever seen her eyes so wide and psychotic before.

Oleana inhaled slowly, and lowered her accusing finger. She brushed a lock of long platinum blonde hair over her shoulder and looked Leon up and down one last time. With a disappointed shake of her head, she stalked away.

For what seemed like hours after she left, Leon could hear his heart hammering in his ears. Ideally, he would have wanted a moment to collect himself, but it seems that he and Oleana weren’t entirely alone, especially since once again, he found himself not too far from the Hammerlocke arena. One second he was standing by himself, the next he was flanked with reporters, each holding a camera, microphone, or notepad. The familiarity of their questions buzzed with an uncomfortably blurry hum to Leon, but still he flashed them a smile, however fake.

“Champion Leon, what brings you to Hammerlocke?”

“Champion Leon, was that Ms. Oleana with you?”

“Would you tell the viewers what you two were talking about?”

“Any word from the Chairman and the League lately?”

Leon held up both of his hands, donning the relaxed but upbeat grin he saved for such questions. “Oleana was simply filling me in with my scheduled activities for the day,” he said smoothly. “She just came to talk to me about a minor mixup in which we thought I was supposed to be here in Hammerlocke, but it appears not. And I apologize for the informality of this meeting, but I will make sure that at my next scheduled appearance we will all have a champion time!” With a wave to the press, Leon hoped to make a quick getaway, although he didn’t have any place in mind. He only wanted to be alone to think about everything, but one last question stopped him.

“Champion Leon, what is that pokémon doing with you?”

His head snapped down to see Honey, once again out of her PokéBall, and a little intimidated by the new humans surrounding her and her trainer. Scooping her up, Leon found himself cornered. “This… is Honey, and I found her in the Wild Area. She is traveling with me for the time being, although I don’t intend to keep her forever.” He was referring to his duties as a Champion and how she wasn’t adapted to his battling style nor was she a high enough level, but by the interested chatter and scribbling on notepads, his words were likely interpreted in a completely different way.

While the reporters were busy pondering with one another, Leon took the opportunity to sneak away, which turned into a mad dash as soon as he turned a corner. He still did not know where to go, as he apparently had the next several hours to himself before he inevitably met the Chairman tomorrow. However, it had been so long since he last had some free time, the actual freedom of choice seemed foreign to him.

Hunkering down behind the buildings consisting of the Hammerlocke shopping complex, Leon petted Honey as he thought of what to do. His priority was to still find Raihan, but that search ended in a disaster. He didn’t even know who else knew the dragon-type gym leader well enough to know where he could’ve gone- wait-  _ yes he did _ .

Whipping out his Rotom phone, Leon dialed a familiar number and prayed for an answer back.

“Hello! You’ve reached the Pokémon Lab, this is Sonia speaking.”

“Sonia, thank Arceus-”

“Leon? What happened? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I mean- I- Sonia, I need your help.”

“Is this for a big issue or a little issue?” Her voice on the other end grew nervous.

“I don’t know, but it’s about Raihan.”

There was a long, staticky pause. “Does this have anything to do with how he battled that trainer earlier today?”

“I don’t have time to tell you everything over the phone, but I can meet up to talk about it,” hurried Leon, exasperated and embarrassed.

“Do you want to go to your house?”

Leon mulled it over. He knew Hop was roaming the region and he knew how much his mother loved Sonia. Plus, he hadn’t been able to go home in forever. “Yes, that works.”

“Right then,” Sonia concluded. “I will see you at sundown.” The beep signaled to the Champion that she had ended the call.

“...Right then...” Leon echoed slowly, and called out Charizard once more. He had to get out of this city. Today, it had only caused problems, and he rested his faith in his old friend having the solutions to them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonia and Nessa are the wingwomen Leon never knew he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi people who for some reason enjoy this!! i know it's been a couple days, but here's another chapter, albeit a bit shorter than the others. i'm trying to write down the groundwork on a doc for all future chapters, and hey, who knows, if i begin to hate them maybe ill edit this someday ;) thanks again for all the support!
> 
> much love!

Sonia, apparently, took it upon herself to arrive at Leon’s house before he even showed up. Which made no sense, in his opinion, because it was his bloody house and he wasn’t anywhere close to being late. So naturally, the poor Champion nearly suffered a heart attack when he walked into the kitchen and found the young researcher poised with crossed legs in one of the chairs holding a cup of tea to her lips.

Hardly reacting, she used her foot to push back another chair and set the teacup down. “I’ll go get you some,” she offered without missing a beat. As Leon pulled out Honey’s PokéBall and fiddled with it, he heard Sonia reheating the stovetop in the kitchen. Upstairs, though, he heard more sounds, like a lot of heavy objects were being moved around.

“Is that my mum?” called Leon over the whistle of the kettle.

“No, but I did say hello to her when I first got here,” replied Sonia over her shoulder. “She said she was all tuckered out and went to bed early, and just wants us to not make too much noise.” Sonia shrugged, then her eyes darted to the ceiling. “That’d probably be Nessa setting our stuff up in your room.”

When that sunk in, Leon was incredulous. “You brought Nessa over too?  _ Why _ ?”

Sonia only quirked an eyebrow challengingly. “Because you’re hopeless and I need moral support. And also because she’s my girlfriend, you dolt.”

A fair answer, but the exasperation was still there. Leon said nothing else, but glared at her turned back pointedly. He slumped over in his chair, staying that way until she set his teacup on the table in front of him. On her other side, Sonia placed another one on the table for Nessa.

“Over here, Love,” she said gently, waving the shorter woman over when she emerged from upstairs. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she was wearing a set of simple blue pajamas. The topmost buttons were undone, revealing a gray tank top underneath.

Nessa quickly seated herself, taking her cup in one hand and locked fingers with Sonia with the other hand. She nodded at Leon with the smallest smirk he’d ever seen. “So what’d you do?”

“I don’t knoooooow!” Leon groaned into his cupped palms, then winced when he remembered his sleeping mother. “I was in the Wild Area earlier, I caught an Applin, I can’t take care of it, Raihan likes dragon-types, I went to go visit him, he suddenly confessed to me, I froze up, he got angry, and I haven’t seen him since!”

A completely bewildered Nessa set her tea down and pulled out her Rotom phone. Sonia appeared to be more thoughtful on the matter. She tapped her chin. “Well, of course he’d probably get angry if you didn’t say anything else to him. He’s embarrassed with himself and he thinks you don’t like him back.”

Nessa’s eyes focused back on Leon, widening considerably. “Do you?”

“Of course he does,” replied Sonia confidently, before Leon had the chance to himself. “Look at him, his face looks like a Cheri berry.”

True to her words, Leon’s blush grew even darker at being called out. “I- yes, I like him, I just don’t know where to find him or what I should say. Who knows if he’ll still want to see me after all this?”

Sonia’s expression grew fonder. “I think he will, Lee. Raihan isn’t the type to just up and leave from somebody he cares about. It’s all just a misunderstanding, and once he realizes that, he’ll be back to planning a hundred and one different ways to propose to you.” She and Nessa laughed heartily, even as Leon swatted them both on the arm.

“So then… this isn’t so bad,” Nessa reassured, typing frantically on her Rotom phone. “We just need to find Raihan.”

“Or-” started Sonia, perking up, “Raihan could find him.” When she received only confused expressions from the others, she elaborated on her idea. “You are the Champion after all. The media loves you, and Raihan loves the media. If you get his attention by doing something that gets leaked online, then he might be more inclined to talk to you again.”

“You mean like this?” Nessa showed an article she was perusing, and both Sonia and Leon craned their heads to read the bolded title and subtitle:

**Champion Leon’s Applin: Coincidence or Fate?**

**Has his bachelorhood finally come to an end?**

“They  _ really _ don’t want you to be single, huh,” mused Sonia.

“That’s… one way to put it,” grumbled Leon, rereading the offensive subtitle. He sighed. “They’ve made such a big deal out of this, gosh, am I in trouble with Chairman Rose.”

“This could be a good thing, though,” Sonia countered, standing up with teacups in hand to go refill them. “To me, this sounds like a step in the right direction to gaining Raihan’s attention again. The press apparently knows about this Applin you’ve caught for him. I imagine you also know that there are romantic implications to that, because Raihan clearly did.” Leon nodded. “So all you’d theoretically have to do is make it glaringly obvious to him that not only do you intend to give the Applin to him, but also that you’re aware of exactly what it means.”

“Problem solved,” concluded Nessa, and the two women shared a solid high-five.

“But what if this doesn’t work?” asked Leon nervously. “What if it just ruins our entire relationship?”

“It will,” reassured Sonia. “Not only do I know that Raihan is a sucker for that kind of thing, but he’s also a sucker for you. He’s probably also scared of ruining your entire relationship, but he has a failed confession to get that conclusion from, so you need to convince him that he’s got the wrong idea.”

“I’m with her,” chimed Nessa. “He talks about you all the time to the other gym leaders. He loves battling you, among other things.”

“Rea-?”

“Yes, really, Leon, all the damn time. If he’s not taking a selfie he won’t shut up about you. All of us know how much he looks up to you.” The three of them were silent with their tea for a minute, then Nessa blurted, “Do you have the Applin with you?”

“Yeah, I do,” chirped Leon, pulling out her PokéBall and releasing her onto his lap. “Sonia, Nessa, meet Honey.” At the sound of her name, Honey trilled and shuddered in the new presences. Leon pulled out a few miscellaneous berries he had on him for her to eat while they studied her.

“She’s beautiful, Lee,” crooned Sonia. “Raihan will love her.”

“He did,” said Leon with a snort, “Before I messed everything up.” He put Honey and her berries on the table so he could rest his head on his arms. “I get what you’re saying, but… I just feel terrible. I just didn’t know what to say, and he doesn’t deserve to be heartbroken like this.”

“You keep spiraling into this like a whirlpool,” commented Nessa. “Why don’t you and Sonia get changed, I’ll clean up down here, and then we can play on the Switch that Hop has in his closet.”

“Hop has a Switch in his closet and I didn’t know?” echoed Leon.

“You never come home,” argued Sonia playfully, and he knew she was right. Leon put away Honey, they all pushed in their chairs, and thus began the plan of action to win Raihan back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon begins to take his life back, even if it may cost his freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHY do so many of you like this???!?!?!?! thank you?!??!?!? i ended up splitting up this chapter to keep the length of each one close to each other, but i think it still ended in a good spot.
> 
> thank you to all of my reads, kudos, and comments, they mean the world to me!! i fully intend on finishing this fic, although i cannot lay out a guaranteed update schedule and i just do it whenever i have time. just know that even if it takes a little while in between updates, i still check on this often :)
> 
> much love!

Not unlike many other mornings, Leon was roused from sleep by Rotom telling him he had a caller on the line waiting for him. And not unlike many other mornings, Leon would sleepily try to smack the air where his phone was likely hovering to get it to just  _ shut up _ . Unfortunately, his Rotom phone was incredibly adept at avoiding his swings and kept on ringing.

“Master Leon, please wake up. You have an incoming call.”

The Champion moaned and pulled a pillow over his head, kicking his blanket and twisting it around his legs. “Bug  _ off _ ! I don’t care who it is, they can wait until a decent hour comes to call me...”

Even with the pillow muffling most of the noise, Leon still heard a concerned buzz. “But Master Leon, you have specifically instructed me to prioritize any calls coming from Oleana.”

With a panicked snort, Leon tumbled out of his bed. He immediately struggled to get back up, but his tangled blanket prevented any frantic movement. So, beckoning Rotom into his hand and accepting the call from the Chairman’s secretary, he braced himself.

As expected, Oleana launched into a staticky, yet livid, ramble as soon as she heard his timid greeting. “Leon,  _ so help me Arceus _ , you better have the best bloody reason for not being in Wyndon right now. You’d  _ think _ you would pay attention to me even a little bit yesterday, you’d  _ think _ that maybe you understand how furious poor Chairman Rose is going to be after that little stunt in Hammerlocke, but  _ no _ -”

While she continued to chew him out through the phone, Leon kept Rotom pressed against his ear and his shoulder as he messily stripped out of his pajamas and threw on his normal Champion attire. Just after securing his iconic red cape around his neck, he launched himself into his desk chair, but the wheels on the bottom and the force of him sitting in it caused the chair to fly across the room unpredictably. Quitely yelping, Leon scooted back over to his desk, where he normally kept his hairbrush, but he quickly realized it was missing.

The Champion stuck his tongue out thoughtfully, fingers drumming on his thigh as he tuned out Oleana’s screeching to try and remember what he was doing the night before: the talk with Sonia and Nessa... they played video games for a while... he and Sonia stumbled across that video of the baby Charmanders and cried about it while Nessa braided their hair…

He paused, feeling how his violet locks were still held together in that same braid, albeit it was much messier now than it was when the water-type trainer first did it. And Arceus damn it all, his brush was still in Hop’s room where the girls were sharing the bed.

Abandoning the chair, Leon hurried across the upstairs hall, trying in vain to pacify Oleana long enough to buy him more time to get ready. Not even bothering to knock on the door and just praying they’re decent, Leon practically slams open the door and starts shuffling through his little brother’s belongings to find his hairbrush.

“-Yes, Oleana, and I’m really sorry that I lost track of time, but I promise you if you could maybe stall for just a couple minutes I will be right there, Champion’s honor, and I promise I’ll do whatever you and the Chairman want as soon as I meet you there, bye!” He quickly ended the call, knowing full well that she hadn’t finished her lament, but he opted to hear the brunt of it in person. That was a problem for later.

From Hop’s bed, two disheveled bodies slowly sat up. Sonia rubbed at her eyes, while Nessa adjusted the strap of her tank top. She grimaced. “Where are you going?”

“Wyndon,” huffed Leon, finally snatching the brush and pulling out his hair elastic. He ran his fingers through the braid to undo it, then brought the brush through the thick purple strands, but a slight wave remained in his hair despite his efforts. He even shook it out and put his snapback on his head, but it still couldn’t hide the distinct change in texture.

Sonia, despite being exhausted, noticed her friend’s frantic pacing and fiddling with his hair. “Keep it like that, ‘t looks nice,” she mumbled, rolling over onto Nessa’s spot after said girlfriend stood up and stretched her body. “Jus’ get on over to Wyndon. We’ll let you know ‘f we hear anything about Raihan.” She yawned, earning an affectionate nudge on her cheek from Nessa’s thumb.

“What she said,” reiterated Nessa with a small smile. “I’d hurry if I were you. We’ll check up on you later.”

And so, with a quick goodbye to them both, Leon tossed his hairbrush back into his room and bolted down the stairs.

However, he hadn’t been expecting to see his mother again, much less awake. She was always one to sleep in, if his inherited ability to do the same was any indication. Nonetheless, she was always a welcomed presence.

Her face brightened at seeing her eldest again in the flesh. “Good morning, Leon! Sonia told me you’d be staying the night, I didn’t think I’d catch you before you left!” She beckoned to the coffee pot next to the stove. “Can I get you a cup before you go?”

Leon tenderly kissed her on the cheek, taking care to brush some of her signature purple bob behind her ear. “No thanks, Mum, I’ve really got to leave.” He brushed past her and made for the front door. “I love you, I promise I’ll call!”

Down Route 1 he ran, his cape flying behind him. All the while through the relatively straight path, he accounted for all of his PokéBalls, including Honey’s, and the rest of his everyday belongings. Up ahead, he could see Wedgehurst’s train station, and thanked his Wishing Stars that this was the one time he didn’t get lost on the way.

Flashing his Champion’s pass to the conductor, Leon was quickly let onto a first class car, where luckily he was alone and separate from other passengers who would undoubtedly recognize him. However, disregarding these optimal circumstances of travel, Leon was a sociable person by nature, and soon found himself very lonely having nobody to talk to. So, almost on instinct, he called out Honey. (He would’ve done the same to Charizard, but unfortunately he was much too big to fit comfortably in a train car.) To his delight, the little Applin cried out gleefully at the sight of him.

“Well, hi to you too,” he cooed, rubbing what he presumed to be her chin. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to talk much more with you today, Honey, but I know it’s because I’m in a bit of trouble with the Chairman, so I’ve got to get that sorted out first. I’ve certainly got lots of jobs as the Champion of Galar, but it’s all worth it to me.”

His lip quirked, and he propped up his ankles on the bench across from him. “And as for you… I think I’ve got a plan to finally get you to Raihan without any more mistakes on my part. You remember him?” Honey squeaked in response. “I think I’m in a little bit of trouble with him, too, but at least I know how to fix it.” Her face fell, and Leon’s wide golden eyes softened. “No, it isn’t your fault at all, it’s mine, really. I just didn’t know what to say, but I do now.” She seemed to pick up on his determination. “Let’s just hope it works.”

The train elegantly pulled into Wyndon, and Leon was onto the platform as soon as the doors opened. Having one hand on Charizard’s PokéBall, he released him as soon as he was outdoors, and they made quick work of getting to Rose Tower.

Oleana was waiting at the tower’s entrance, some paparazzi flanking her, and even more flocking over like Rookidees upon noticing the Champion’s arrival. But without a word or gesture, she managed to pull him inside.

To Leon’s chagrin, she started talking as soon as she was out of the press’ earshot. “I see you’ve clearly made haste, but look at you! You didn’t shave, you’re not wearing mascara, you changed your hairstyle, and you’re barely even clothed properly! Hardly presentable for me, let alone the Chairman. I’d fix what you can before he sees you.”

The two of them stepped onto the elevator, and as they ascended, Oleana directed a pointed glare at him, conveying all Leon needed to know. He quietly centered the collar of his shirt, smoothing out any wrinkles in his clothes and trying to tame his still wavy hair, but to no avail. There wasn’t anything else that could be done.

The elevator doors slid open, as as Oleana slinked to the side, Rose turned around in all his suited and groomed glory. His too-friendly stare always scared Leon for some reason, it appeared so forced and unnatural. Today, there seemed to be a prominent hint of menace behind those grinning eyes.

“Leon! How good of you to finally join us!” Rose crossed his arms behind his back and puffed out his chest, meandering around his desk to approach the Champion head on, who gulped.

“Chairman Rose, I-”

“I will have none of it from you,” he cut in immediately, with a voice so steely it made Leon shudder. His eyes were no longer friendly, but cold. Despite being shorter than him, Rose exuded a stance of power and authority wherever he went, asserting himself as dominant over Leon in all things. Rose turned around and headed for the glass wall behind him. “Come here.”

Like a young child, Leon echoed his footsteps. Soon, they were both in front of the glass, viewing Wyndon from above.

“Being Champion means you pledge your allegiance to me. This is a term you readily agreed to. True, you were barely a teenager, but you were absolutely of sound mind to consent to that. And up until now, you have been fairly obedient; you’ve been dressing and acting however is deemed appropriate around the public eye, you battle however is deemed most powerful, you deal with your victories however is deemed most politely and cheerfully. You do everything however I tell you to, and in return, I provide you and your family with everything you could ever need to live comfortably. Your sponsors favor you. Your fans adore you. You’ve made my company more successful than it’s ever been prior to you winning the League all those years ago. Yet...” Rose’s peridot eyes scanned him. “You star in an article all about this Applin you supposedly have, effectively pulling attention away from this pure, perfect reputation we built for you, and not even twenty four hours later you come in here looking like you do, and to me it seems you hardly care about these circumstances. I should only assume you now feel the same about the benefits you’ve been receiving from me.”

Leon’s shoulders hunched. “No sir, absolutely not. I’ve just been-”

“Doing  _ what _ , exactly?” queried Rose, interrupting him again. “What is this sudden change of heart, Leon? Do you now have a new motive for going about your life?” He shook his head, walking away and leaving the Champion in his wake. “You don’t need to explain to me what you’re doing, but I’m going to explain to you that it ends here and now.”

There was a pregnant pause after that as Rose headed for the elevator, snapping his fingers to command Oleana to his side.

“See to it that he is properly made up for his battle presentation at the gala,” Rose said to her, loud enough for Leon to hear. “I have to get there early so to  _ engage with the sponsors _ .” He hissed the last few words, pointedly directed at Leon. With that final menacing message, he entered the elevator alone.

~

An hour later found Leon at the aforementioned gala at the Wyndon stadium lobby, dressed in a dashing red tailcoat. He was mingling with businessmen and women that were too fancy for his liking, and when they weren’t around him, a reporter was. It was all very boring in his eyes, but like always, Leon never made anyone suspect any different. He was all pleasant smiles and “Champion time”s, and it seemed to do the trick regarding keeping the Chairman and Oleana at bay, because he knew they were watching him closely even if they couldn’t be seen. All the while, his every movement was fueled by finding an opportunity to signal to Raihan that he wanted to talk to him again. It wasn’t that there weren’t ample opportunities to say something and have it broadcasted, because menial ones were everywhere. Leon was waiting for something to happen where he would know that everybody would be watching it.

His chance came at last when he was summoned to the Wyndon arena to simply present his pokémon and a few battle moves and techniques for the public. Everyone except him crowded into the benches surrounding the turf, and although none of the common people were allowed access, any empty seat was filled by extra reporters that streamed in by the dozen. It was too good to be true.

Leon stood at the center of the field, and behind him in a row were Aegislash, Haxorus, Rhyperior, Dragapult, Rillaboom, and Charizard.

He inhaled deeply. After just evading drastic consequences from the Chairman, he was about to be sure that he would never get any ounce of freedom from him ever again.

But for Raihan, it was worth it.

“People of Galar, I would like you to meet someone very special to me.” Tucked away in his inner coat pocket was his seventh PokéBall, which he opened by touching the center. “She is my newest companion, and her name is Honey.”

All around him, the crowd “aww”ed.

“As much as I love having her around me, and as much as I love being her friend, she is not meant for me to keep. It was her decision to come to me from the Wild Area, but I know it’s fate that tells me she belongs to someone else.”

Looking into the closest camera, Leon continued his speech. “My dragon, I know you’re probably confused. I meant to give her to you from the start, because I know you would take care of her. But even now, after I’ve come to terms with what it means by giving Honey to you, my intentions have not changed. If you can hear me, I’m not asking you to forgive me, I’m just asking to see you again.” Leon smiled as sweetly as he could muster, turning away from the camera. “Thank you.”

Putting Honey back inside her ball, Leon then proceeded to showcase his battling team as though he’d done nothing abnormal at all just before that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In retrospect, Leon should have seen it coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again!! i am sorry for this chapter- both for the Immense Angst (tm) and the overall crappy quality of it- but thats just how it be sometimes. its also a fanfic. not really meant to be god tier writing, although i try not to make it too outlandish... lol
> 
> the story is going to get a bit more intense from here on out, but i know where i'm going with it at least. once again, thank you for all the support you've given me!
> 
> much love!

It was absolute pandemonium. The gala having been concluded after his presentation, Leon returned to his Wyndon apartment, absolutely terrified. He had managed to evade Rose thus far, but it only meant he had a matter of time until he was found, and he had nowhere to run. The Wild Area couldn’t save him this time.

The moment Leon had stopped talking on the pitch, the crowd of reporters and attendees had gone wilder than he’d ever seen even at one of his formal matches. They’d stood up, swarmed each other, the stairs, anything that could get them onto the field and pressing the Champion for further questions. It was likely due to this that Chairman Rose and Oleana may have been blocked in their seats. It was definitely due to this that Leon had recalled all of his pokémon and burst through the side exit of the stadium.

It took a great deal out of him to convince himself that what he had done was the right thing, that his friends supported him, that his family loved him, that he made amends how he could, that Rose couldn’t control everything about him.

But a faint, fluttering, yet looming churning in his gut told him that the last part wasn’t true.

No matter how much he knew in his heart that Sonia and Nessa had the right idea, and no matter how much he liked Raihan, Leon was well aware that somehow, Rose had strings attached to every single one of them. Leon just bore many more than the others did.

Everything he did for the last ten years was for those he loved. Everything he did since first becoming Champion was for the benefit of his Mum, Hop, Sonia, Professor Magnolia, all the other gym leaders, and everybody else who lived peaceful lives in Galar. He became Champion for himself, but he remained Champion for everyone else. He did it for his pokémon.

He did not do it for Rose. Rose was the one who had wormed his way into his life through the League. It had been a mistake to win, then, perhaps, but Leon was much younger and had less people to let down.

Never had Leon been so paranoid in the safety of his own home before, never had he actually checked twice to make sure that the door was locked and the lights were as dim as they could possibly be. Never had Leon hurried to change into more comfortable clothes any faster, and never had he so furiously stashed his pokémon away, where they could not be found.

(He tried to tell himself that it wasn’t because he was scared of what would happen to them.)

He skipped eating a proper meal. He didn’t think he could stomach anything. Instead, his nerves carried his feet over to his bedroom, where he hid himself in his bedsheets. Leon laid there in silence, only musing briefly how he had treated everything so casually up until this moment. Perhaps it had only just sunk in that Leon himself was the direct cause of something as consequential as this, and so, in a sense, maybe he deserves what he knows is coming.

“Master Leon, you have an incoming call.”

Leon nearly jumped and fell out of his bed. It was the Chairman. Or Oleana. It had to be. They were coming for him.

“Master Leon, the caller on the other end is registered in your saved contacts as ‘Sonia’. I would advise answering, as this is not an unsaved number.”

Peeking his golden eyes out of his blanket, Leon lifted the sheets just enough to invite Rotom in. He answered it mid-ring, pulling the sheets back down over his head immediately.

“Leon, that was-”

“Be quiet,” he hushed her, then blinked. He hadn’t meant to sound rude.

“Excuse me?” Leon could almost see the expression on Sonia’s face through his phone.

“No, Sonia, no,” he whispered hurriedly. “I mean… you have to speak quietly. I’m trying to hide.”

“Are you in your apartment?”

“Yes,” said Leon.

“Lee, you can’t hide in your own bloody apartment. People know where you live. Who are you even hiding from?”

“The Chairman,” Leon stuttered. “He’s going to absolutely  _ kill _ me for this.”

“What? I thought Oleana was the strict one.”

“Her, too,” agreed Leon. “But he controls more. I mean-”

“Controls more? Leon, what are you saying? Your little performance made it onto every telly in the region. The Chairman can’t control what’s already out in the open.”

“Nevermind!” snapped Leon. “I’m just… not really supposed to do stuff like that. At all.”

“No kidding,” quipped Sonia. “Was a right show you put on out there. A little dramatic, but I thought it went great. Raihan and your fans are going to eat it up.”

“Sonia, now’s not the time!” He could normally reciprocate her playful banter, but he was far too on edge this time.

His heart stalled when he heard a furious pounding at his door.

“Anyways, I’ve been meaning to tell you, in case you didn’t already hear, but Raihan responded already, he-!”

Leon heard keys jingling in the hallway, fiddling with his lock, getting it undone. His door was forced open.

_ “YOU BETTER BE IN HERE, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING WHORE!” _

Leon could feel the blood draining from his face in the amount of time it took Chairman Rose to find him in his bedroom.

Shoving Rotom under his pillow, Leon sprang up to go meet Rose at the doorway, but he was already storming in. He was more disheveled than he had ever seen him. His signature gray suit was wrinkled, his hair a little askew, and there were some miscellaneous stains all over him, Arceus knows what they were from.

For a man of his height and build, it shocked Leon with how little time it took for Rose to pin him in a chokehold against the headboard.

“You despicable little imp,” Rose hissed with an icy sort of calmness. His hand tightened around Leon’s slim throat, cutting off his air supply completely. The Champion could barely retain much of what was being said to him. “If I could have my way, you’d never talk again. You’re goddamn lucky you need it to battle.”

Leon began to wrestle in vain to get the hand off his neck, but Rose only clenched down tighter. His face grew insane, green irises shining and darting about the Champion’s face.

“I gave you too much freedom, it seems,” continued the Chairman. “I let you run off for a day and you ruin a decade. I gave you a chance to make up your mind to see if you really care about anything I do for you, when obviously you do not. That was my only mistake, and it is not going to be repeated, because you’ve ruined everything I built for you.

“Consider your family impoverished at this rate. You will continue to work for me, but now they get nothing. And I will make sure that you will do nothing of this caliber ever again.” Rose removed his hand, allowing Leon to crumple to the floor. Through his hazy vision and while struggling to breathe, Rose crouched down and pulled out a PokéBall.

“You were right. This Applin no longer belongs to you. But it’s not going to Raihan. I am keeping it. And I intend to dispose of it.” He shook it in front of Leon’s face tauntingly, chuckling when one hand limply reached out to grab the PokéBall.

Rose stood back up, using one foot to kick Leon onto his back. “Hm. That will surely leave a mark… what a shame.” He pinched his neck, getting Leon to gasp and flutter open his eyes. “It’s a good thing you’re not going back outside for a long, long time.”

He snapped his fingers, and two Macro Cosmos grunts filed into the room at his command. They each held Leon up by an armpit, leaving his legs to drag uselessly on the ground. One of them gripped the long purple locks to make him face Rose.

“That’s right. All you’re going to be doing from now on is battling. It’s better for the both of us if you stick to the one thing you’re useful for.”

Rose snapped one more time, turning to leave the apartment. “Take him to Wyndon Stadium. Lock all the exits.”

~

Under Leon’s forgotten pillow, Sonia finally hung up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan does what Leon cannot: gets revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy CRAP i am so so sorry i basically died for like three weeks? that wasn't very cash money of me but im back with chapter six!!! i've finally got a free weekend so here y'all go: more food lmao bc i rly owe u guys one for all the support even when i dipped on u <3
> 
> this chapter is kinda???? a doozy?? but hold onto your asses it gets good.
> 
> much love!

Meanwhile in Hammerlocke, a jittery gym leader was sprawled out on his apartment’s couch, trying to distract himself from recent events involving a certain pretty Champion by changing the channel on the telly from the news to some dumb chick flick movie he’d never admit to anyone he’d seen a million times already. He’d brought out some snacks for himself, tried to get comfortable and lose himself in the film, but all the while his mind refused to stop racing.

_ Leon likes me back. Leon likes me back. Leon likes me back. _

When Raihan had seen the confession for himself, he nearly dropped dead on his carpet. And then when his brain caught up to him and he wasn’t immobilized with shock (which took a good few minutes), he had snatched his phone up, recorded an eager reaction, and uploaded it to his online page without a second thought. More than anything, he was just thrilled that his feelings were reciprocated, for Arceus’ sake!

_ Leon likes me back Leon likes me back Leon likes me back _

Despite all of his best efforts to ignore anything regarding the news, wanting to hear anything after today from Leon himself, the news could be rather adamant when it demanded to be heard. Especially if it involved getting his door nearly kicked down.

_ LeonlikesmebackLeonlikesmeback- OH SHIT! _

“RAIHAN, ANSWER THE DOOR DAMMIT!”

His frantic mantra having been put on pause, the dragon-type leader scrambled off of the couch to invite Sonia in before she woke up all of his neighbors.

When he opened the door, she looked absolutely unkempt, her usual side ponytail without her charms and clips and some hair falling out of the elastic, her lab coat wrinkled and windswept, and her hands- which were balled into tight fists- were an angry red. But there were fresh tear tracks staining her too-rosy cheeks.

Raihan stepped aside to let her in, but to his surprise, she snatched him by the sleeve and attempted to drag him out. Having been taken by surprise at her demeanor, he stumbled into the hallway, but he kept one hand grasping the doorframe to keep himself steady.

“What happened?” he queried, Sonia’s urgency making him worried. He had a strong feeling whatever had her so worked up had something to do with Leon, and that prospect made his heart fall to his stomach.

“Explain… in a minute,” she croaked, sounding almost like she’d ran all the way to him. She sniffed. “We need to go. Wyndon. Leon, he-”

“Say no more,” Raihan said, cutting her off at the mention of his love. He hurried to grab his pokémon team, not knowing if he would need them, but he did more often than not. Not caring about grabbing anything else except for his Rotom phone and his keys, he and Sonia sprinted out of the Hammerlocke housing complex.

Once they’d hailed a cab from a particularly grumpy Corviknight (probably unaccustomed to being on duty at night), Sonia told Raihan all about what she’d heard.

Needless to say, within a short amount of time Sonia started to cry and Raihan was seething with rage to the point where he could barely get any words out. “Did you manage to get any evidence from it? Record any of it?”

“Only a little,” Sonia wailed. “Once the Chairman started screaming and I heard some fighting noises I had the lab tech recorders getting it- oh, Raihan, it was awful! But I knew if I made any noise Leon would get it worse and I’d have nothing to use against him and there’d be nothing else I could do and-“

Raihan could only shush her gently, rubbing circles into his friend’s back while she heaved. He felt her pain. His anger did not cease.

The pair disembarked at Wyndon, Raihan keeping one arm around Sonia to keep her upright and fishing in his pocket with the other hand to give a treat to the Corviknight who ferried them over. With a low caw, the cab took flight and left the two alone in the sleeping city.

Having maintained an excellent sense of control for the most part, Raihan could feel it crumbling away when he turned around and noticed where they’d been dropped off. They were just outside the stadium.

Raihan lost control of all his senses, he was only vaguely aware of letting Sonia collapse to her knees while he stumbled drunkenly to the entrance of Wyndon Stadium. He rested his forehead against the glass door.

It was ice cold to the touch.

For the first time that night, Raihan released all the energy he had pent up inside. An inhuman shriek escaped him and it resonated all around the city. He was going to kill Rose. He was going to fucking  _ slaughter _ him. He had to do it or he was never going to see his love ever again.

And what about Honey? She was so young. She was still a baby pokémon. Would Rose just release her? Keep her captive?  _ Worse? _ No matter, she was a present from his Champion, and she already meant the world to him.

But as much as he loved her, he loved Leon more.

“Sonia,” he snapped, whirling around. “We need backup. There’s no way we can get to the Chairman’s office by ourselves.”

“It’s going to be locked, too,” she reasoned. “Nessa’s already on her way, I called her earlier, but she won’t be enough manpower for battling. She’s good, you’re better, but I gave up on it years ago. Plus none of us have access to Rose Tower, because you need that special key card to unlock the elevator or something like that.”

“Can we just…. get a fake card? Break in?” Raihan ran a hand down his face, trying to think, but his brain was still too occupied with thoughts of Leon’s safety. “Who do we know that has experience with that kind of stuff-?”

“How should I kn- hmmph!” Raihan thrust a finger over Sonia’s lips to quiet her.

“Piers.”

Sonia shot him a baffled look. “ _ What? _ What is he going to do?”

“I don’t really know,” dismissed Raihan, scrolling through his Rotom’s contacts. “But he told me once that he was starting a gang of some of his gym trainers, more or less. They can be the manpower we need. As for him, there’s no  _ way _ someone that sketchy doesn’t know anything about getting into places they shouldn’t be.”

He pressed the dial button. “And now, we wait.”

~

“Greedy little Ratata. I never liked ‘im,” Piers said immediately after hearing about the situation. Behind him, Sonia was filling in Nessa and the Team Yell grunts. “I’ve wanted to bust into that tower for a long time.” He smirked, and his hooded eyes glanced up at Raihan’s. “Thanks for finally giving me a reason to, mate.” Pulling out a handheld microphone from Arceus knows where, Piers shouted into it to get everyone’s attention.

“Tonight… we do somethin’ I’ve felt like doin’ for a long time. If all goes well, I can go back to the gym leader welcomin’ ceremony without havin’ to see that shithole Chairman in person.” Team Yell murmured to each other excitedly.

“You two,” said Piers to two burly grunts, “Go find one of Rose’s guards and get the key card. I’d program one myself but we aren’t in Spikemuth and we don’t have the time.” They nodded and ran off in the dark, whooping and hollering.

“The rest of you, heal your teams. We aren’t here for an easy fight.” Piers turned to the three that weren’t members of his own gym. “That goes for you too.”

“I didn’t know he’d be such a leader. He’s so antisocial,” whispered Sonia to Raihan, who shrugged and pulled out a hyper potion.

“This is probably the most exciting day of his life,” Raihan replied dryly, noting how the dark type leader’s face bore an unusual and slightly sadistic grin.

The grunts returned in a matter of minutes, one of them waving around a small card high in the air. Like a flock of Rookidees, the other Yell members began to chirp and cheer for their buddies, watching intently as Piers snatched the card with nimble fingers. Raihan followed him to the personal metro that the key card unlocked with a singular smooth swipe.

“Up we go,” chuckled Piers, nodding to the tower in the distance. He stepped aside for Raihan. “You first, mate.”

~

Just as they’d all expected, ascending Rose Tower was no easy feat. The Team Yell grunts were dropping out of the group to help defeat their counterparts of Macro Cosmos, and by the time they were at the top, all of the grunts were gone and it was just Sonia, Nessa, Piers, and Raihan left.

The elevator stopped again. In the moment of stillness, Raihan could hear Sonia’s breath hitch.

Oleana stood on the other side.

Piers assumed the responsibility of taking care of her, knowing to leave Rose to Raihan. He sent out his Obstagoon just as a foaming-at-the-mouth Oleana released her Froslass.

To his left, Raihan heard Nessa exhale slowly. He turned to her just in time to see her pull Sonia into a kiss and caress her girlfriend’s cheeks with her thumbs.

“I love you,” she said quietly.

Then, in a sudden burst of strength, she pushed Sonia and Raihan past Oleana. As the two of them ran toward Rose’s office, they heard Nessa’s Drednaw cry as he was released. Oleana would be occupied for a while.

Raihan, who had longer legs than his ginger friend and was much faster than her, was the first one to burst into Rose’s office. The Chairman, calm as ever, swung around in his chair and folded his hands together, a serene smile sitting on his lips.

“So. You’ve decided to come.”

“Cut the bullshit. Let me see Leon or I’ll  _ tear you apart _ ,” Raihan growled.

“Interesting,” Rose mused, standing up and walking around his desk. “Gym Leader Raihan, I intend to make a bargain with you. Battle me, and if you win I won’t report you to the authorities for breaking and entering onto private property. If you lose I will have all of you arrested and replaced and I can see to it that nobody will ever question your disappearance.”

Rose pulled a rattling PokéBall out of his blazer’s inside pocket. “I will also see to it that this creature is no longer of anyone’s concern.” He quirked an eyebrow. “What do you say?”

Raihan cracked his neck. “Fight me, fucker.”

Rose clicked his tongue, putting Honey back inside his coat. “It’s a shame Galar will lose such a talented trainer. Let us begin.”

Rose was a formidable opponent, wearing him down to Duraludon, and his Bronzong was at nearly full health. Sonia, who refereed the match, was Raihan’s cheerleader- crooning when he landed a hit and whimpering when one of his own pokémon was knocked out.

Even Raihan’s constant motivation of getting to Leon couldn’t seem to save the outcome of the battle. Once his Gigantamax turns were over, he was finished.

Rose had won and had barely batted an eye. All he did was smirk.

He recalled his Bronzong, rolling the shrunken PokéBall in between his fingers. “Any other business you have with me before I have you put away as well?”

Raihan walked right up to his smug face.

“Yeah. This one’s for my princess.”

And he punched Rose right in the jaw.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon escapes, but escaping doesn't mean freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO okay so epic bruh moment, i am so sorry. i'm not even gonna say anything about my absence but here you go Take It, more is definitely coming!!! its corona time baby!!!
> 
> much love!

Arceus above, Leon was cold. So cold.

When the Chairman threw him in his quarters at Wyndon Stadium, he must have cut all the power going to the building, which meant no light or heat. During the day, obviously, this would hardly be a problem, but the early springtime air easily grew frigid after sunset. Having been taken off guard, Leon was clothed in nothing but his sleepwear. He didn’t even have socks or slippers.

He didn’t have any of his pokémon, either.

The first thing he did when he’d initially came to was to test all the appliances scattered around the room, anything that would possibly help his predicament. But there was no such luck from the stovetop he used for tea, nor from the air vent ducts even after he desperately flicked its switch back and forth.

The only reason he was able to see at all was from the echoing light of what seemed to be flashlights trained on the Champion’s door. So it appeared that Leon was not alone in the stadium.

For a while he just sat still on the leather couch. Part of him wished for a more heat-retaining material, but most of him could hardly process a thought other than to keep his knees tucked to his chest and curl into a ball. At some point, he’d gotten the idea to build a little fort around him out of the couch cushions and tried to search for anything to constitute as a blanket, but there was no such thing available.

What he wouldn’t give to have Charizard with him at that moment.

Leon busied himself with wondering how the rest of Galar was functioning without him. Surely there had to be some discussion by now, and if not, Sonia was smart. She’d probably figured everything out already. Hopefully she’d come to help him. And hopefully she’d bring Raihan, then maybe he could smooth things out with him-

Leon sighed. Then he sneezed.

When he got out of here, he was going to steal Raihan’s ice-type resistant hoodie, whether he liked it or not.

With newfound resolve, if not only to see Raihan and get out of this mess, Leon destroyed his leather couch fort with a swift kick. Hopefully if he just did everything really  _ really _ fast, the adrenaline would make up for the cold.

The problem remained, however, that he wasn’t strong enough to take down a thick iron door. His natural instinct was to find a tool of some kind, but even if there was something in the room that had a chance of budging the door, it would create too much noise to go unnoticed by the guards.

His second instinct, if not a surge of the adrenaline more than intelligence, was to somehow have one of the guards get the door open for him so he could make a break for it. The more he thought about it, the more this seemed like a better plan, not only because he wouldn’t have to waste his rapidly depleting strength on opening a damn door, but because the chances were in his favor that he was physically better off than any of Rose’s men. He could outrun them.

~

Ten minutes and an empty plate of leftover meat later, Leon was vomiting loudly onto the tile.

As it happens, the disgusting combo of the takeout being lukewarm from the refrigerator being off as well as just being expired in general was a recipe for an upset stomach, which is exactly what Leon needed. He could already hear voices outside.

Although his stomach still felt queasy, he quickly wiped his mouth on his sleeve and shimmied towards the door, where he heard the lock click and retreat back into the sheath. Tentatively, slowly, it opened. A pair of boots stepped inside.

“Champion Leon? Are you ill-?”

Leon snagged him by the ankle and used the momentum to pull himself up and out of the door.

“CHAMPION LEON!”

His poor stomach bounced as he ran down the hallway, forcing him to go slower than he could on an average day, but he still whizzed by the other guards, who by this point had caught onto his escape plan. Several of them got a hold of him, but all Leon did was wrestle away from them and continue on, which amassed a rather large group of them chasing after him.

_ Please, no. _

His feet were almost frozen by now.

_ No more. _

He hardly knew where he was going anymore, there was only inside the building and outside.

_ Let me  _ **_out!_ **

Leon’s running ceased when he came to the glass doors at the main entryway, but like his own chamber door, it, too, was locked. He pounded on it furiously, but the city of Wyndon was as quiet during the night as ever.

Having caught up to him at last, the mob of guards surrounded him and wrenched him away, pulling on his arms, pulling at his legs, pulling at his hips, his legs, his hair. He screamed at them to stop, he screamed for anyone to come help him at all, but not a sound greeted him in response. The guards were dragging him back down the hallway. They were taking him back to the darkness and the cold, away from his pokémon, away from Honey, and Sonia, and Raihan.

He couldn’t do it all over again.

Succumbing to the cold and his churning stomach, Leon threw up again, all the while shivering violently. He was dropped unceremoniously in his own vomit, but this time he had no energy to spare. He let his eyes flutter shut and his limbs grow heavy. The adrenaline was gone.

He was completely knocked out before the sirens began to wail.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan gets some bleak news, but hey, at least he's holding Leon's hand, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck the police comin straight from the underground or in this case fuck a cohesive schedule for updating because im either lazy doing hw or asleep :) the good news: i outlined the rest of the story, so i'm hoping it means faster updates, i'm sorry to keep everyone waiting!
> 
> much love!

“I know you like to sleep in, Princess, but this is a bit much, don’t you think?”

Leon said nothing back. Unless, of course, Raihan considered the heart monitor’s steady beeping a response.

“It’s alright. I think this time you deserve to rest up a little extra.” In his left hand was Leon’s clammy right hand, palm upturned. Raihan had spent his time in the hospital getting his sprained right hand checked over and wrapped, but according to other reports Chairman Rose’s nose had an even more severe outcome, so he figured it was a fair trade. That asshole deserved it. But after getting medically cleared, Raihan had spent hours waiting outside of Leon’s room until Nurse Joy finally allowed him in, only to see the long haired Champion unconscious in a tiny white bed, shirtless, and sporting several ugly bruises.

“He’ll be fine,” assured Nurse Joy when she’d seen Raihan’s horrified expression. “It’s nothing that can’t be healed with time. We just need to monitor him for a little while is all.” She had placed a gloved hand on the Hammerlocke leader’s shoulder. “Trust me, it is not as severe as it looks.”

Severe or not, Raihan was pissed at the condition of his crush. He’d been among the first outside of the paramedics and police to have seen Leon be wheeled out of Wyndon Stadium, and the image of him turning blue at the fingertips and covered in bile will haunt him for probably the rest of his life. Once they’d cleaned Leon up, gotten a report of his condition, and Raihan was allowed to be near him, all he’d done was just pull up a chair adjacent to the bed and loosely locked their fingers together.

_ Beep. _ Bruising.  _ Beep. _ Food poisoning.  _ Beep. _ Hypothermia.

_ Sure, not the worst things to happen to a person, _ though Raihan bitterly,  _ but they still happened.  _ And someone was going to pay for it. That someone, presumably, being a certain Chairman who claimed victory over Raihan in battle and who claimed ownership over Honey.

Raihan could only hope that the police had taken her away from him. Leon would be devastated if they didn’t. But he had no way of knowing, and so he convinced himself to worry about her later. Right now, all he cared about was making sure his Princess healed.

There was a knock at the door. Presuming it to be Nurse Joy, Raihan called lowly, “Come in,” but it wasn’t Joy. It was a member of the Wyndon police force, a short young woman with spiky teal hair. She shut the door quietly and sat down across from Raihan’s chair and Leon’s bed.

“Hi, Raihan, I presume?” She stuck her hand out, and he shook it. “I am the Wyndon Chief of Police, but if you just want to call me Jenny, that’s fine too.” She leaned back in her chair before clearing her throat. “I know that things are… a little crazy right now. I’m not sure how much you know about what’s going on right now, but you’re in a bit of trouble, it seems.”

Well, that was understandable. Raihan knew what he was getting into.

“I’ve previously met with Chairman Rose of Macro Cosmos, and he wants to file a lawsuit.”

_ That son of a bitch wasn’t joking, then. He actually did it. _

“I know that sounds bold, but he does put forth a solid case.” Jenny cleared her throat again. “After all, you did break into his building and physically assault him. That doesn’t look too good.”

“Are you kidding?” fired back Raihan, then wincing when he realized he needed to be quieter for Leon’s sake. “I mean… I know it was bad, but he locked Leon up in the stadium! He took a baby pokémon away from her trainer! We only broke in to try and rescue them!”

“Save it,” countered Jenny, holding a hand up. “I can’t legally do anything about this anymore. It’s out of my hands. They’re trying to find a date for you two to solve this in court. I just came by to tell you. I’m really sorry. Defense or not, he still can exercise the right to try and arrest you. To get out of it, I’d suggest finding somebody to put all your evidence together. You’re at a pretty big disadvantage, considering all of the Chairman’s connections, but the way I see it, he doesn’t strike me as innocent, either. If you can play to his weaknesses, he won’t be able to do anything to you, and the tables will turn on him.”

She stood up and paused in the doorway before turning around once again. “I’m sure you do have plenty of your own defense. Again, I’m sorry for the news. I know it’s pretty bad timing.” Then she left, and in came Sonia.

“Okay, I’ve contacted Hop and Leon’s Mum, they should be arriving within a day or so by train. And as for you...” She glanced up from her Rotom phone and cocked her head. “What’s the matter?”

“Rose is trying to arrest me,” said Raihan with a casual shrug. “You know, just everyday stuff.”

Sonia did a double take. “He’s  _ what _ ? Just you? Wait- but you, me, Nessa, Piers, and Team Yell are all guilty of breaking into the tower. Why is he only trying you?”

“I’m his favorite,” Raihan drawled, fluttering his eyes. They both snickered.

“I’m serious, though,” huffed Sonia. “The Chairman could theoretically put all of us away for criminal offenses. Maybe he’s just testing the waters?”

“Maybe,” suggested Raihan. “If he wins against me, the authorities might drop his own charges and then he can get rid of the rest of you.”

“That’s… really smart, actually,” she noted proudly. “It unfortunately makes sense. We just need to make sure nothing happens to you.”

“I don’t care what happens to me.” Raihan’s eyes left Sonia’s and veered over to Leon’s pretty face. He unconsciously stroked his hand with his thumb. “I just wanna figure all this out for Lee.”

“And we will,” soothed the researcher.

“We need to wait for him to wake up, though,” said Raihan. “He knows the most about Rose and can give us a firsthand account of what happened.”

“All in the name of the law~” Sonia replied. She picked up her phone again, and took the chair on the other side of Leon’s hospital bed. “I need to call Nessa again.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is awake, the group needs a plan to proceed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me/a normal updating schedule: nobody wanna see us togeeether but it dont maaaatter noo cause i got u
> 
> anyways woah i suck at this lol, also i know these more recent chapters have been pretty underwhelming for the amount of time in between them, but i'm actually trying to give this a coherent plot and idk if im just lazy or a perfectionist or both. but if i dont write it now i never will.
> 
> much love!

When Leon woke up, he had hoped everything would be over. Of course, that was only a fool’s paradise.

He remembered having a pounding headache right before passing out at Wyndon Stadium, which luckily enough was treated, but it soon returned upon finding out that Raihan was expected in court against Rose and he would probably be needed to testify facts for him.

Leon wanted to live in his fool’s paradise for a little while longer, but he couldn’t ignore the discussion at hand for too long or he’d be useless to his friends.

“...And that’s how we would- Lee? Leon? You with us, champ?”

_ Not really _ , mused Leon. His mind drifted aimlessly, the only thing he bothered to register was how Raihan’s long fingers danced around his own palm, a beacon of comforting warmth.

The dragon-type trainer was locked in a conversation with Sonia and Nessa, trying to formulate a plan for them to win the case despite the massive disadvantage they were all at. As much as they tried to include Leon in their talk, they could all tell how out of it he was. Leon presumed they knew that he would talk once he was more awake. For now, though, he allowed himself to wander.

_ Where was Rose? What was he doing? Is he still walking free, or is he being monitored like Raihan is? And what of Oleana- what happened to her after she and Nessa battled? Who even won that battle? _ Leon supposed the answer to that one didn’t matter, the outcome of it all would’ve been the same either way.

The very thought of the Chairman angered Leon to no end. How had he let him get away with what he’d done for so long? How could he let him take Honey? It didn’t even matter if Rose had committed a murder and Leon watched- in the contract he’d signed upon becoming Champion of Galar he wasn’t allowed to disclose anything while under Rose’s “care”. He only needed to battle and be good at it and make a public appearance here and there. Young Leon, having barely been a teenager at the time, had agreed readily to these conditions without thinking of the consequences because at the time they meant nothing. But because the Chairman and the Champion are formally and legally business partners, Leon was essentially trapped- he couldn’t say a word without violating the terms he’d agreed to, and if he chose to violate it anyways Rose could easily target him next.

_ And how is Mum? She must be worried sick. Does she even know what had happened to me? What of Hop? Is he still on his journey, or has he put everything on hold to come and see me? _ Deep down, Leon hoped not. He knew that something like this could absolutely kill Hop’s drive, and that was the last thing he wished to do to him. After all, Hop had promised him that he’d make it to battle him for the title of Champion.

_...Will a Championship match still happen this year? _

Leon’s golden eyes widened, on the brink of an epiphany.  _ Yes, there’s going to be. After all, it’s in my contract. _

He shifted and sat up in his hospital bed, getting the attention of the three other adults in the room with him.

“Yeah, Lee?” Raihan asked gently, his idle strokes to Leon’s hand becoming less and less like accidental brushes.

“I could lose,” he said hoarsely.

“Lose what?” Raihan’s head tilted ever so slightly.

Leon coughed and cleared his throat. “The Championship match. You know… the one that’s scheduled this month and all… That I do every year...”

Nessa scowled at him. “Why in the bloody hell would you do that? You’ve been Champion for how long- ten years?”

“Something like that,” Leon croaked, shrugging. “It doesn’t matter anyhow.”

“And why not?”

“Because I can’t speak out against Chairman Rose at all while I'm still locked in my position. I signed a contract with him and everything.”

“Minors can’t sign contracts,” said Sonia.

“Yeah, but this one’s the exception, because the Champion isn’t narrowed down by an age requirement. Rose can cover up anything he wants about what he did and I can’t do a thing about it. Even if I tell you everything, which I will,” Leon added that last part hurriedly once he saw Raihan’s piercing gaze trained on him, “The court will ask for proof and the only person who can give that is me.”

“What about our conversation on the phone?” Next to Sonia, Raihan drew in a sharp breath, as if suddenly remembering something. “I heard Rose take you away and before that he...” Sonia’s voice tapered off. She nodded awkwardly at Leon, referencing his many injuries. He knew what she meant, but he shook his head disdainfully.

“I know I can’t be Champion forever,” sighed Leon. It pained him to have to let it go like this. Ideally, he would lose in true fashion, giving his position away to a sprightly trainer who was powerful enough to fit the role. With circumstances like these, though, the matter was no longer truly in his own hands. It was not honorable, but his time was now. “I just don’t know what I’ll do after everything ends. I’ll be worthless.”

“Ah, not true, Princess,” cut in Raihan. “I’ll need someone to be my battle partner and who can get lost often enough that I can escort him around Hammerlocke, and I don’t believe I know anyone else who can fit that position.”

Leon’s cheeks flared a bright red, and against his racing mind, he genuinely smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon receives some more bad news after all the training he and his pokémon have done. Fortunately, a visitor arrives with some better things to talk about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey... how yall doin..... no words this time just know im alive and i am SORRY
> 
> much love!

“Charizard, Fire Blast, again!” Leon’s thighs trembled and gave out from the yoga pose he was holding.

Charizard, picking up on his trainers’ slacking off, shot him a blank look before firing the move at the practice target.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t patronize me,” he replied with a sigh, folding his legs into the lotus position to stretch even more. “One more run-through and we can take a break.”

“You aren’t overworking, are you Lee?” Sonia stood adjacent to the training yard exit behind the hospital. Her lips were turned down, but her eyes were alight with mirth.

“Nah,” crooned Leon, “He’s fine. I don’t know who’s more antsy to get back onto the battlefield- him or me.”

“I was talking about you too, you know,” said Sonia, carrying over her clipboard full of official papers. “How have you been feeling?”

“Trapped,” he answered truthfully. “I’m ready to get out.”

“Your body isn’t, though,” she shot back quickly, placing the back of her hand on his forehead after brushing his soft violet bangs out of the way. “We still have to be patient. You’re still running a little temperature.”

“What’s all that?” Leon asked, trying to change the subject from his condition. He was tired of hearing about it between her and poor Nurse Joy, who’s had to deal with more incidences of his friends trying to see him after visiting hours than with any other patient (she told him so).

Sonia huffed, and leaned her head back onto Charizard, whose curiosity at the newcomer led him to snuggle her from behind. “Court stuff.”

“I didn’t even know they were working on it this fast,” Leon admitted, surprised. “It’s only been a few weeks since Rose claimed a lawsuit in the first place. Doesn’t it take a lot longer than this?”

“It does,” Sonia agreed, “But it’s only a date so far, I don’t have anything else. But I’m bringing it for you to see because you should know it.”

She tilted the clipboard towards him, and right there, in big bold red letters, was the quickly approaching court date. Wait…

“This is the day of the Championship Match.”

“Exactly,” she murmured.

Leon gripped the clipboard, absolutely baffled. “How is it on that day? Will one of them have to switch dates?”

“Well, the court certainly can’t,” reasoned Sonia. “The judges deal with other cases, too. You can’t just postpone the law.”

“You can’t postpone the Championship Match, either! It’s been the same exact day every single year since long before I even started training pokémon,” Leon argued back.

“Even though it’s inconvenient for both things, they’re still set in stone. At this stage nothing about it can be changed.”

“Wouldn’t Rose be able to do something about this?”

Sonia blinked. Charizard grumbled. “How do you mean?”

“Publicity- wise. If he’s adamant about something, in this case people’s attention going to the lawsuit and not the Match, I’m pretty sure he has the power to change this.”

Leon closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, but soon after he heard a heavy swallow from beside him. “Why would he?”

“Sonia, is your head on right today?”

“Why would he?” she repeated, eyes widening, grabbing Leon’s shoulders. “If you’re the one person who could be a major threat to him in all of this, wouldn’t it benefit him if there were something keeping you busy? Keeping you from attending the hearing at all?”

Leon quickly and horrifyingly caught on to what she was suggesting. “Oh, Arceus, no.”

“It’s all just too convenient,” she rambled on. “Legally you can’t say anything, but now you won’t be able to hear anything. He’s keeping you in your place.”

Leon’s head fell into his hands. This wasn’t happening. No it was not.

There was a hand on his back. “I, um, I’m really sorry, Lee. I just had to make sure you were aware. I do have to go, though. Meet with the Professor and all that. But there is someone else who wants to see you!”

Ooh, is it Raihan?

Shut up, thirst brain. Leon smacked his cheeks. Now’s not the time.

He couldn’t even turn around to see who was approaching when they quite literally crashed into him. The two of them toppled over, and Leon felt the ghost of an ache in his ribs.

“Ouch, hey-” His tangent was interrupted as soon as he opened golden eyes to see completely identical ones boring back into his. “Hop!”

“Lee!” Both brothers went in for a glomp, and fell right back down again.

“Are you taller?” Leon ruffled the short locks on Hop’s head.

“Nope, probably not,” Hop chittered, popping the “p”. “But I am in the semi-finals!”

“For real, mate? Awesome! I didn’t know they were over already,” Leon congratulated with a shrug.

“For Raihan not being there things went pretty smoothly,” Hop added. “Piers took his place, so we all battled him. All the battles were great, though!”

Leon smiled fondly at his brother’s enthusiasm. Something nagged at him, knocking from inside his heart, as if reminding him that he lost the same genuine enthusiasm long ago.

“-And Gloria made it look easy, as usual. I don’t know how she got so good when we started our journey together, it makes no sense to me, but I’m still really proud of her!”

“Hey, Hop.”

“Yeah, Lee?” He calmed his rant to look earnestly up at the Champion.

“Promise me that someday, no matter what you end up doing with your life, you won’t let anybody make decisions for you.”

Hop cocked his head to the side. “Hm? Why would I do that?”

Leon chuckled, and shook his head. “I don’t know. Just promise me you won’t.”

“Um… sure!” Hop went in for another hug, and they stayed connected like that for a while.

After some time, Leon broke the contact and stood up, popping his knuckles and scrunching his toes inside his shoes. “Do you want to train with me for a little bit?”

Hop was up and ready to go in nanoseconds. “Oh, do I!”

“Alright!” Leon rolled his neck. “One more time Charizard, let’s make it our best!”


End file.
